THE mother of a Botley woman who was found guilty of ‘endangering an airport’ after she attempted stop the deportation of migrants to Africa has set up a petition calling for the courts to spare her daughter a prison term.

May MacKeith, 33, was one of 15 people who entered Stansted Airport last year, delaying the plane’s departure from the runway for up to 10 hours.

Following the group's guilty verdict on Monday, Angela MacKeith, has set up the petition on change.org which also calls on the Government to end all charter deportation flights.

The petition states: "We call on the UK government to end its inhumane hostile environment policies and to end its barely legal and shameful practice of deportation charter flights. We also call for the Stansted 15 to be spared prison.

"They did not aim to inconvenience people, and this arduous trial has had such a profound impact on the defendants’ lives that they are unlikely to take such action again."

After a ten week trial, the group were found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday having been controversially charged with rarely used terror-related offences.

They will be sentenced at the same court in February.

To view the petition visit www.change.org and search 'Stansted 15'.